Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Now I understand it's traditional to have some kind of mid-life crisis at this point, and purchase a motorcycle or take up base jumping. Instead I found myself being presented at my birthday party with a trombone I don't have the faintest clue how to play. This came slightly less out of the blue than it might first appear and was clearly a sign that my good lady wife had been paying rather more attention to the things I say than I had. Those who follow my twitter & facebook feeds will already know that I've developed something of an obsession with New Orleans Brass Bands since watching David 'The Wire' Simon's New Orleans set TV series 'Treme' on DVD a few months back. Cruising down the motorway with the Rebirth Brass Band cranked up good and loud, I had expressed a desire to own a trombone and then promptly forgotten about it. That was until Mrs Wearn presented me with one.

So now I'm making my first fart-sounding notes from the instrument I'm wondering if this is my own special music-geek version of a mid-life crisis? Given I still can't play harmonica like James Cotton, or slide guitar like Son House after years of trying, am I just being distracted by something new and exciting? Should I have just traded in the tour bus for a zippy red convertible and been done with it? Alternatively I might be joining the Memphis horns in 6 months, you never know...

Still just to prove that in spite of it's image the trombone is every bit as cool as a guitar or drum kit, here's a little clip of Rebirth funkin' it up: